


The sky shook, and so did our happy life

by bummerlummer



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: After the Post-Timeskip Battle at Gronder Field (Fire Emblem), M/M, Mentioned Edelgard von Hresvelg, Mentioned Hilda Valentine Goneril, Mentioned Marianne von Edmund, Minor Injuries, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Time Skip, dimiclaude gift exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:27:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27816064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bummerlummer/pseuds/bummerlummer
Summary: A clash between three armies that can turn the tide of the war.The setting is a blaze, fire burns almost endlessly, taking the lives indiscriminately.But it is here where someone doesn't follow the script; where instead a promise between a deer and a lion is heeded.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 34





	The sky shook, and so did our happy life

**Author's Note:**

> Yo! This is a gift for [@SummahSunBirb](https://twitter.com/SummahSunBirb?s=09) in the Dmcl Gift Exchange.
> 
> Prompt: The battle at Gronder Field, Claude is overcome with enemies, but Dimitri shows up in time to protect him, despite his feral state. Minimal blood/wounds.

_Pant._

_Pant._

_Pant._

The blue beast heaves in exhaustion as it focuses on the red figure far away.

“Edelgard!” the beast roars as it cleaves through the imperial soldiers blocking its path. Edelgard - The Flame Emperor - That woman stands within the beast’s reach.

It leaps forward in a pounce, weapon ready to pierce, stab, kill, but is deflected by the swing of an axe. The clash of their weapons sends sparks into the air, and murderous blue glares at impassive lavender.

Both the beast and woman fall into battle, a flurry of weapons clashing, the sounds and the force between their blows are strong and unmatched.

It ends with both parties injured, chests heaving. The beast moves to stand but is brought down by a gash on its side, and the woman limps as she moves back, the red of her bloody wounds unseen on the maroon of her garb - just like the blood of all of those she has _slaughtered._

“You won’t run from me again! I will have your head, Edelgard!” the beast growls with its teeth bared. Weapon ready to attack once more.

The lady in red instead shakes her head, her expression unflappable, and stance resolute. 

“You aren’t making my path an easy one, Dimitri.” Perhaps it was her wounds, or maybe just a moment of reminiscence, but her expression had wavered, lost was the untouchable Flame Emperor and stood in her place, the melancholic Black Eagle house leader.

“We will meet again, Dimitri.”

She turns her back onto the beast, and leaves with the shadow of her retainer covering her smaller figure.

The beast howls in rage as its prey has slithered out of its grasp yet again. It turns its anger to the remaining soldiers left to die like cattle on the battlefield. Razing all those that stand within its reach.

As soon as its boiling rage slows to a simmer, it stops, regaining its breath. What a picture it must paint to the onlookers. Matted fur and blue, with its weapon wickedly sharp, glowing red like the blood that seems to drip endlessly from it.

"Claude!"

The beast's head swerves to the shrill scream. Pink and Blue. Hilda and Marianne. Both of them were fighting their way to a rapidly falling wyvern. Its scales are a blinding white, making it look like a comet hurtling down onto the earth, with flashes of gold accompanying it’s rapid descent.

A sudden lurching feeling grips the beast's chest. And it is pulled by the feet into a deep darkness, drowning, _suffocating,_ until-

* * *

_-He's beautiful…_

The blue lion and golden deer house leaders were given stable duty this week. Dimitri tends to the horses while the wyverns were left to Claude. At least that was the plan until- "Ya know, your princeliness? I don't think Teach would appreciate their efforts in pairing us up this week only for us to do the task separately," Claude says with a ~~charming~~ wink - that happened.

So now, the both of them are tending the last of the wyverns having finished caring for the horses well before this.

Dimitri doesn't know whether this is a blessing or a curse.

Claude somehow seems to look more radiant today. Small trickles of the afternoon light bounces off his skin creating a sort of halo around him, and his hair looking soft to the touch. Posture more ease than usual. A slight smile on his lips, more genuine than the ones Dimitri sees day-to-day.

 _"He's beautiful…"_ Dimitri repeats his thoughts to himself.

Honestly, he should slap himself on the head for that.

Claude chuckles fondly as he rubs the head of the eager wyvern, giving it a pet for being so patient whilst being scrubbed clean. 

Dimitri thinks he shouldn’t slap himself on the head, _“If this is a dream, please let it last a little longer.”_

“Has something caught your eye, your Princeliness?”

He doesn’t know whether it’s the emerald green eyes, or the soft mischievous smile that enraptured him, but what he does know is that he doesn’t mind the way he is falling.

Dimitri averts his eyes, choosing instead to stare at the very happy wyvern under Claude’s ministrations. A spark of unbridled envy at the wyvern rises in him before he forcefully shoves it deep down, away from this moment of innocence.

“Nothing. It is just that, the way you are able to connect with the wyverns awes me so,” Dimitri remarks. “I am sure you would be as capable with the horses if given time.”

Claude hums in thought, absently twirling his braid, leaving one hand to spoil the wyvern, before shaking his head with a resigned sigh. 

“I’m sure that would be true, but alas horses aren’t for everyone. This particular person loves his scaly friends,” Claude says.

Dimitri gives a nod before returning to attentively watch note down the wyvern’s behaviour to help Ashe further along his training with his own mount, at least until he gets lost in thought about how they both had tea just before starting their chores as a refresher, about how they sat sided by side during dinner last night after the professor’s insistence in the three house leaders having shared meals.

So lost in thought, that he is completely caught off guard by calloused hands pulling his gloved ones into theirs.

Dimitri flinches, pulling his hand away so fast that the momentum made him swing and trip over his own two legs. He stumbles, regaining his balance, before standing ramrod straight.

It takes him a moment to actually process what happened, his face slowly gets consumed with a burning red that reaches the tips of his ears. Although, his expression remains blank, or as Claude might say “as deadpanned as Teach!”

Claude’s look of shock slowly breaks as Dimitri’s face gets red, before letting out a snort, his hands covering his mouth, as it cracks into a full blown laugh.

In the face of Claude’s unrestrained laughter, Dimitri breaks out a chuckle, laughing along with Claude, rubbing the back of his head in a bout of nervousness and immense embarrassment.

“Ha.. ha… Wow! I’m really sorry Dimitri, maybe I should warn you next time,” Claude apologises, he sounds out of breath with some tears at the corner of his eyes from laughing too hard.

 _Next time,_ Dimitri’s mind latches on to.

“Ah, it is of no consequence, Claude. It was partly my fault for dreaming during our shared tasks,” Dimitri reassures him. “What were you doing anyway?” Dimitri asks with a tilt of his head, confusion now covers his face, draining the rest of his embarrassment away.

“Well,” Claude starts, “With how intensely you were looking at me petting the wyvern, I thought you wanted to give it a go.”

Dimitri blinks in surprise. “Really? I assure you that was not the case. I doubt I would be able to do it as deftly as you.”

“That’s why, I’ll be instructing you,” Claude winks. He reaches to grab Dimitri’s hands, hesitating at the last second. “May I?” Claude asks.

 _“Oh, Claude. I would never reject anything you offer,”_ Dimitri thinks to himself.

“Of course, Claude.” Is what Dimitri says instead.

Claude wraps his hands around Dimitri’s and Dimitri’s mind goes blank.

The hand guiding him is smaller than his own. Oh, how Dimitri would love to take off his gloves this very instant, if only to feel the warmth of Claude’s skin, the softness of Claude’s flesh. If only these gloves didn’t hide the burns of a childhood memory that haunts him till this day.

Soon though, they come to a halt, and Dimitri is jolted back into reality as he feels the groves of the wyverns scales on his gloved palm, as subtle as it is, the texture is different from that of a horse’s fur, harder to press, yet not as hard as the rest of its body.

“See? Not bad isn’t it?” Claude says right next to his ear. Claude’s breath, grazes his neck, leaving the lingering feeling of a warm shiver through him and the slight smell of chamomile in the air.

An easy giggle sounds from behind him and with how close Claude is, he could feel the way the shorter man’s body shudders, the way Claude seems to lean onto his back for some support.

“Please, your Princliness, as much as how shocking it is to pet a wyvern, I do think you still need to breathe.”

_Oh._

Dimitri takes in a much needed deep breath.

“There, much better isn’t it?”

A nod.

They stand in silence, Claude’s confident yet gentle hands guiding Dimitri’s own unsure and stiff ones, lavishing the wyvern in attention.

Dimitri did not mind the silence. It’s one of those moments where even the silence wasn't haunted by voices of the dead. A peaceful silence that seems to make him feel as though he was floating on thin air.

“Would you like a fun fact, your Princeliness?” the smooth voice sounds low, almost as though it was a whisper.

Dimitri hums, replying obligingly as softly as Claude had before him through the comfortable haze his mind has fallen into.

“If a wyvern is grounded, unable to fly, it is already considered to be dead, and with it, it’s rider.”

His mind stutters to a sudden stop.

“That’s not a fun fact, Claude.”

Laughter erupts from the golden house leader, still so close for Dimtiri to feel the tremors that wrack through his body.

“No, it’s not,” Claude responds slightly out of breath after his laughter trails away, his face shifts from a smile to a slight frown, a bleak expression of seriousness contrasting his youthful features. “But it is the truth.”

“I see. Thank you for informing me, Claude. I will be sure to make use of this knowledge in the battlefield.”

In silence they stand again, but it feels… different somehow. Something like anticipation lingers in the air after their conversation. It makes Dimitri itch; feel the need to grab his lance in preparation for battle.

Claude seems to ponder for a moment, his once confident hands take a slower turn, a little more hesitant.

“If my wyvern were to fall and I with it,” Claude begins. “I would rather let myself fall alone or stay grounded, and for them to fly to safety.”

Dimitri jerks his head, his hands following his movement goes off of the wyvern to clutch Claude’s hand in his, and pull the other boy to face him.

“What?” Dimitri nearly shouts. His heart beats into a gallop, his mind giving unfavourable scenarios.

Claude looks away from Dimitri’s questioning gaze, “Would it not be the same for you and your steed? Why cause the death of an innocent being entangled into the battles of men?”

“I-” Dimitri stops. And takes a breath. He thinks of it closer as he clears his mind of the unwanted images of Claude plummeting to his demise. “I agree. I suppose I would do the same thing.”

The golden house leader looks at him and gives a rueful smile, “My Dimitri, if you’re so shaken up about it, then let me ask you a question.”

“Of course. You can ask me anything, Claude.”

Hesitant emerald looks up into unwavering sapphire.

_“Would you catch me if I fall?”-_

* * *

-he finds himself back, two feet firmly on the ground. Dirt crunching underneath his boots.

Dimitri feels disoriented, slightly unsteady on his feet as the sounds of Gronder comes back to him, as the stinging gash on his side that seemed to appear out of thin air- The piercing roar of a wyvern jolts him into action.

_Claude._

He runs across the field, keeping his eye on where the wyvern and its rider had fallen, battling the Imperial soldiers that approach him with a roaring shout, “GET OUT OF MY WAY!”

It feels like only a single moment has passed before he finally arrives near the surrounded duo. Claude in all his golden, yet tattered, glory wields a battle axe with a grace and accuracy Dimitri hadn’t seen during their academy years, seemingly working hard to protect his wyvern who was lashing out with sharp rows of teeth and a hefty tail.

“Claude!” 

Not a second after Dimitri shouts the man’s name, the Duke swerves his head to meet the eye of the Prince, a smile of relief paints the beautiful man’s features as his eyes seem to light up. 

“Dimitri?!”

The blue prince lunges forward, lance in hand towards Claude’s direction, and Claude’s eyes widen as he readies for the leaping attack.

.

.

.

A gurgling sound is heard, and blood splatters on his cheek.

Dimitri pulls the lance out of the Empire soldier, allowing the soldier to slump forward into the ground behind Claude.

The blonde Prince gives the Duke a frown as he shakes the blood of his lance.

“You should be more aware of your surroundings in battle, Claude.” Dimitri lectures. 

Claude gives a breathless laugh, shaking his head in an exasperated, yet fond manner.

“First time meeting with a decent conversation after five years, and the first thing you do is berate me. You nearly gave me a heart attack Dimitri.” 

The frown settles heavier on the Prince’s face.

“Forgive me, for surprising you Claude. It was not my intention,” Dimitri apologises.

Claude shifts in place, a wince on his face as he does so.

“It’s alright,” Claude hisses. “It worked out in the ended didn’t it.”

The Faerghus Prince gives the Leicester Alliance leader a look over, brows scrunching as he takes note of how Claude seemed to be favouring one leg over the other.

“Are you hurt?” Dimitri asks in concern.

Claude looks surprised at his question. Guilt overcomes Dimitri in that instant, remembering how at the beginning of the conflict he had firmly turned the efforts of creating a truce from Claude away, grazing the Duke’s cheek with a thrown lance.

“Ah… well,” Claude looks down and gives a cringing grin, “I’ve got a broken leg from the fall.”

Dimitri nods, before hugging an arm around Claude’s waist, pulling the shorter man to his side. “Please lean on me.”

A series of stutters falls out of Claude’s mouth, strange if compared to the Duke’s usual smooth and suave tongue. Dimitri pays him no mind, continuing forward on his march with the injured man leaning on him.

“I had seen Hilda and Marriane not too far from here. You need your wounds tended to soon.”

They both make their way past the slimming horde of enemies. Dimitri’s grasp on Claude forces the man to lean most of his weight on the Prince, yet he seems unhindered with the manner Dimitri is able to swing his lance.

Claude is silent during their approach. Dimitri will not lie, it makes him anxious. It feels as though something was crawling in his gut, something that will never settle, something he wishes he could rip it out and be done with. It makes him focus more on the man beside him rather than the raging battle around them. It makes him tighten his already tight grip on the slender waist, as though if the man were closer - _closer_ \- he would be able to peer into the Duke’s thoughts and quell his fears.

“You came…”

A whisper, small enough to almost be drowned by the sounds of battle. Yet, he hears it - no - feels it reverb through him. He doesn’t know if the man knows the confidence those two words gives him. A balm to his rabbit heart.

He loosens his too tight grip on the man’s waist to a reassuring hold, and Claude relaxes. The shorter man seems to lean on him more comfortably, head resting on the fur of his shoulders, a hand clutching his arm as an arm reaches up to grip his other shoulder.

“I promised you didn’t I?”

The words spilled from his lips, and the soft smile that rises on Claude’s lips shines on him like the rays of a previous afternoon’s sun.

“Yes, you did.”

* * *

Gloved hands tightens around the smaller ones, as determined yet loving sapphires gazes into question emeralds.

“I promise to always catch you, and if you have already fallen…” an affectionate caress to blushing tanned cheeks. “...I will be there to help you up.”

The blushing boy gives a small bashful laugh before leaning forward to press their foreheads together. A soft smile on his lips as they part.

_“Thank you, Dimitri.”_

**Author's Note:**

> I do hope you enjoyed this work, because I had no idea what to do with the introduction at first, but I guess it all worked out in the end! 
> 
> This work actually made me find out hoe to format using HTML because of the line breaks, and I am very sure I will forget how to do it again 5 secs from now. So if you spot any mistakes please let me know in the comments~
> 
> Ngl I legit only listened to [Gymnopédie No. 1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY1g7hF7CyE&t=3019s) the entire time writing this. Very relaxing, I'd probably listen to it again if I'm writing, or maybe I'll fine something else?
> 
> Title came from [金木犀 feat.Ado](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Baw-cAvS5xc). And with that, I guess this is good bye until we meet again.
> 
> Ciao (^._.^)ﾉ


End file.
